CoronaVinyl Day 249 (M): Blue by Joni Mitchell

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I meant to post this yesterday, but instead I decided to walk with the family to get tacos and burritos, and then show my kids The Bad News Bears for the first time.  What flew for PG in 1976 certainly would not fly for PG today!

Anyway, yesterday's CoronaVinyl category was "M," and I have a few albums by Laurel-Canyon-by-way-of-Canada folk chanteuse Joni Mitchell in my collection, so let's go with her iconic fourth studio album, 1971's Blue.

I have nothing against Joni Mitchell or her music, but early '70s singer-songwriters aren't what I gravitate towards.  It's safe to say that I listened to more Joni Mitchell yesterday than I have in any single day of my life, if not the rest of my life combined.

There's no denying that Mitchell has a great voice, one that can cover multiple octaves to fit various moods.  Blue is basically just Mitchell, her acoustic guitar, and her piano, pouring her heart out about lovers past and the pains of love.  There are a couple of well-known guest musicians on a few tracks, like Stephen Stills on bass and guitar on "Carey," James Taylor on guitar on "All I Want," "California," and "A Case For You," session drummer Russ Kunkel on "Carey," "California," and "A Case of You," and Flying Burrito Brother Sneaky Pete Kleinow on steel guitar on "California" and "This Flight Tonight."

The album is certainly an emotional rollercoaster, and at the time, it was rare for a musician to open up so much in his or her music about his or her personal life like Mitchell did on Blue.  The songs are very personal, including songs about her ex-boyfriend Graham Nash ("My Old Man" and "River"), with whom she had a relationship from 1968 to 1970 -- and she broke up with him via a telegram from Europe while she was writing this album.  There are also songs about James Taylor ("This Flight Tonight," "All I Want," and "Blue"), with whom Mitchell was having a torrid relationship at the time, although he would break up with her not long before the album was released as his own music career was taking off.  "A Case of You" is also rumored to be about Leonard Cohen, but it may also have been about Nash.  "The Last Time I Saw Richard," which is the final track on the album, is a great name for a song and is also apparently about Mitchell's first marriage, which had ended in 1967 (and was not to a man named Richard).

Blue went to #15 on the Billboard album chart -- her first album to crack the Top 20 -- #3 on the UK album chart, and #9 on the Canadian album chart (her highest showing to that point on either of those charts).  It eventually went platinum in the U.S. and double platinum in the UK.  Only one song from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 -- "Carey," which went to #93.

The album is considered a masterpiece, and it has received many accolades over the years.  It was even ranked #3 on Rolling Stone's 2020 update of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.  It's a fine album, but to suggest that the only two albums ever made better than Blue are Pet Sounds and What's Going On and that Blue is better than any Beatles album is an insult to anyone who has ever listened to music.

Favorite song on Side 1:  "Carey"
This is about Mitchell's brief relationship with an American hippie chef named Cary Raditz that Mitchell met while on vacation in Crete.  It's a little more uptempo than the other songs.

Favorite song on Side 2:  "This Flight Tonight"
As mentioned above, this song is about James Taylor.  It's another one that's a little more uptempo, and the muted pedal steel guitar courtesy of Sneaky Pete adds a little bit of edge, even if just for a few seconds.